Jak and Daxter: Dark awakening
by Steamworks
Summary: A guard who has served in the KG her whole life, starts to find she is not what she thought she was when she joins the underground. First time writing, any tips for improvement will be received gratefully. #OC #Jak2
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: it begins Laughter echoes through the prisons corridors from a table where 2 Krimson Guards stand on guard, or at least are supposed to be on guard. the more slender of the 2 guards is laughing while trying to hold the other's left hand still on the table, while she has a large and freshly sharpened knife in her right hand. "hold still! i wont stab you i promise! besides, my hand will be on top, so even if i Do miss you wont get hurt!" She tries to assure the other guard.

"Jaina! Stop, Please! I don't need to got to the medics again because you cut my finger open, again!" The other guard cries out as he struggles to free himself from Jaina's struggling stops when she slams the knife down between his middle and index finger, causing her to sigh in relief.  
"Finally, now, are you ready, or you going to squirm more?" Jaina asks with a growl, not waiting for her fellow guard to answer. "Besides, Kevin, you got to keep an eye out for Erol or Praxis, don't wanna get caught goofing around!"  
She starts stabbing the knife between his fingers with her own hand above his, holding it in place, humming as she does so, adjusting their hands until she is happy with the positioning.  
"There~ is an old tradition, a game we all can play. You start by getting liquored up and sharpening your blade. you take a shot of whiskey, you grab your knife and prey! and you spread apart your fingers,  
and this is what you say. Oh, i have all my fingers! the knife goes chop chop chop! if i miss the spaces in-between my fingers will come off! and if i hit my fingers, blood will soon come out." The knife stabs into the table around his hand slowly at first, but getting steadily faster.  
but all the same i play this game because that's what it's all abou-... t" Jaina comes to a stop with the knife stabbing slightly into her own middle finger, as Erol marches round the corner of these grey concrete corridors with a prisoner secured by a guard on either side of them.  
The prisoner is a young boy, blond hair, bright blue eyes, blue shirt and all, but, his eyes are full of fear and confusion. When they approach, Jaina lets go of Kevin and puts her knife away before Erol tells her off for it, she is on a short leash as it is.  
"Jaina, stop injuring my men and start doing your job, or you can join this one in his cell!" Erol growls at her as he turns the corner past them, as Jaina salutes and stands straight, putting her Taser at the ready.

"Yes sir!" as soon as he has passed, she slumps a little and relaxes again, glanding in the direction they are headed.

"Actually, Jaina, I want you to guard this one's cell in particular. Keep a close eye on him and if ANYTHING happens in there, you will inform me of it immediately!" Erol shouts at her, a glint in his eye that Jaina doesn't like the look of in his eye as she nods and rushes over. At the end of the hallway is a secure steel door with a single barred window only large enough to see someone's face if they were stood on the other side of it. As they enter, it opens up to reveal a large room with the walls lined with cells. vents with green gas rising slowly from them. the cells descent lower than the floor as a single path is raised leading to what can only be described as a metal bed with a large needle machine above it. The sight of it makes Jaina shiver, she's heard screaming coming from in here before, and now she can guess why.  
Erol has Jak thrown into a cell near said table and Jaina moves to guard the front of it as they shut the thick door, very similar to the one to get into the room. Saluting Erol, she gets into a comfortable position and waits for the other guards and her commander to leave.

As soon as the door booms shut, signaling that she is now alone in the room with the prisoners, Jaina turns and looks through the barred window. "Hey kid, what are you in for? theft? speaking out against the baron? or, were you just one of the unlucky ones?" Lifting her helmet off to reveal her pale skin, dark brown hair tucked into what appears to be a collar or some sort. Her green eyes look to him, intrigued.

Shrugging, Jak walks up to the door, trying to push it open but the door doesn't budge. "Sorry bud, I couldn't let you out if I wanted to, just behave and hopefully Erol wont take a special liking to you" Jaina turns back away from Jak, not wanting to be caught unawares by a superior.

Weeks pass by, Jak gets taken out of his cell as Jaina gets dismissed, she returns after Jak has been put back in his cell every time, and she watches him deteriorate and the light in his eyes darken. She tries to cheer him up with jokes and trying to look on the bright side. it seems to work for a while, but, after the 6th time she was sent away while they do their experiment, he starts ignoring her, not even reacting to her attempts. It wasn't long after that she was reassigned to patrol the city, but due to her habit of, playing, with knives she is to be watched at all times to ensure she doesn't cause a scene.  
It has been 2 years since Jaina first saw Jak, the guards still don't trust her, watching her wearily whenever they see her. Nearing the end of her patrol, and looking forwards to heading to her home so she can relax, at least that was her plan. Approaching the edge of the slums, rubbing her wrists and neck, revealing precursor steel bands lined with runes around both her wrists and neck, the radio in her helmet beeps to life and call for reinforcements comes through, not even waiting for it to finish, Jaina rushes towards the sector near the prison. Arriving at the scene of bloodshed, Jaina is shocked to find the boy she had tried to cheer up in his cell 2 years ago, but he was different. his skin grey, eyes like a void, horns growing from his head and nails like claws, sparking with dark eco. Jaina pauses in shock at the drastic change in jack, but that pause proves to be, problematic as Jak has rushed up to and slashed her rifle out of her hands before she can focus on the task at hand. Lifting her arms to try and defend herself, as Jak bring down a heavy fist, smashing into her right arm. The dark eco seems to be conducted by the band on her wrist just before she gets hit, followed by a shockwave that sends Jaina flying back into the wall of a slums home.  
Jak looks down at the unconscious guard before picking her up and carrying her on his shoulder. "Jak, wh-what are you doing there, buddy? pal? we cant just kidnap a guard!" Daxter exclaims. "she was in the prison, if she has a way to Praxis, Then i want to know the most direct route" Jak glares at the unconscious guard on his shoulder. 'that and you tried to show me kindness while you were there, that deserves some mercy, this time' he thinks as they stop outside the underground hq.

A blond lady wearing a green jacket steps out in front of the pair and glares at them as Torn steps out of the underground as Jak and Daxter arrive, the unconscious form of Jaina on Jak's shoulder. "what do you think you're doing bringing one of THEM here?!" Torn growls, furious and pointing at the girl.

"i thought she might have some interesting information" Jak snarled "We're looking for a guy named Torn, kor sent us. um... Are you... Torn?"

"new faces make me nervous, word is you're out to join the fight for the city" Torn scowls, poking Jak in the chest. "Picking the wrong side could be... Unhealthy"

"we want to see the shadow" Jak glares at Torn, making Him smile slightly.  
"huh. huh. huh. not likely. if you wanna join something, why don't you and your little pet go join the circus?" Torn turns away and looks at them over his shoulder. "unless you've got the furr, for a really tough task" Turning back to face them, he brandishes his curved knife as though to emphasize his point. "Steal the Baron's flag from the top of the ruined tower and bring it back to me. Then, maybe we'll talk. and leave her here" Torn points to Jaina before putting his knife back into the sheath on his chest.

Jak unceremoniously drops Jaina onto the floor before he leaves to fetch this flag. Meanwhile, Torn and Tess drag Jaina into the underground HQ, taking weapons and armor off her once she is inside, leaving her in her basic civilian clothes and the precursor bands that are on the left wrist, ankles and neck. Restraining her to a bed in a side room, they close the door to leave her in the dark as they go over the map of Haven in their main room.

Jaina wakes suddenly. her head swimming as nausea grips her, causing her to moan in discomfort, trying to move, only to find her hands and legs restrained to something by chains. "Where the... Damn, nonononono!" she mutters and tries to slip her hands free of the chains, in turn causing a lot of rattling. Stopping her movements, she listens and hears footsteps approaching what she assumes to be a door as there is light coming from below it. that light is quickly blocked as the door clanks, them opens. the silhouette of someone holding a cured dagger captures her attention as she starts to struggle once again.

"It's been a long time, Jaina"

End of chapter 1 i know there are probably several problems with grammar and pacing. if you have any tips on ways to manage these please let me know.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's been a long time, Jaina"

Jaina can't help but roll her eyes, looking straight at the silhouette of the underground member, who's rough voice could only really belong to one person. "Still on a diet of sandpaper, Torn, or would you rather i call you commander, oh wait, you abandoned the kg for a failing rebellion in the middle of a war against the metal heads" Her deadpan stare and sarcastic tone clearly heard as the man, Torn, flicks a light switch on. The room is filled by a dim white light from the bare bulb hanging from the ceiling by a wire, showing an unkempt grey room, a couple wooden bunk beds on either side of the door, their green bed sheets clearly, unwashed. A single large, rusty screw attaches the chains of Jaina's restraints to the wooden posts of the bed.

"Join us, Jaina. You know the Baron is nothing but bad news to the city, even your sister knows what is going on is wrong!" Torn's rough voice echoes around the room a little, though it falls upon the uncaring ears of Jaina, who glares at him coldly.

"I'm not my sister, Torn. i'll not abandon my father even if he is on the wrong, if you want a revolution, do it when we are not under constant threat of invasion" Jaina sighs, shaking her head a little, pulling on the restraints as hard as she can, hearing the wood groan from the strain, and watching torn's eyebrow rise. "Look, let me go and i wont rat my sister, and your location out, deal?"

"Your sister saw how bad the baron's reign is, Jaina! If you dont join us, you will at least give us some info we need" Hearing this, Jaina frowns at her once comrade now captor, as he glares right back at her, but noticeably not leaving the doorway. Torn's grip on his blade turning his knuckles white as he tightens his hand around it.

"Why, don't you come closer, Torn? I am restrained, what are you afraid of?" Jaina grins at Torn, a slightly sadistic spark in her eyes, the wood of the bed continuing to groan as she pulls, trying her hardest to unrestrain herself.

"I know what you are like, Jaina. I also know that you have sent your own colleagues to the hospital when you are bored. I am not getting close to you" Torn scowls darkly at Jaina, who is now trying her best to look like a hurt puppy, eyes wide and pouting. "Now, why is the Baron so desperately stockpiling Eco? What does he need it for?" A slam emphasises each question, Torns fist hitting against the wall and hard.

"... you think, i know, anything about that?" Jaina tries and fails to hold back a chuckle, a smirk plastered onto her face. "I am just a grunt, i have refused every promotion so i didn't need to keep anything a secret"

"I find that hard to believe, now you will tell me something useful, or i will end you now" Torn threatens, stepping into the room properly, holding his blade towards Jaina's face.

Jaina shuffles away from him, a spark of fear finally showing on her face. "Now now, no need for that" tugging on her restraints almost desperately now, glancing at the screw with every tug and pull, as it starts to bend. "Come on Torn, we can work this out right?"

"It's not so fun to be the one squirming, does it, Jaina?" Torn sneers, pulling the knife away, but not much further away. "But, i will tell you what. Join us and help us take the Baron down, and we'll let you go, De-" Torn is cut off as the top of a large rusty screw smacks him in the face, followed very shortly by the shacked fists of Jaina, Knocking him into the other bunk beds.

"Thanks, but no thanks sergeant sandpaper. I'll tell father how weak you are" Jaina chuckles, rolling off the bed and doing a sort of quadrupedal skip, putting both arms in front of her on the floor as she hops her feet forward and moving her arms forwards to repeat the action in an awkward gait. On the way out of the room, Jaina looks over her shoulder to see Torn, getting to his feet and about to chase after her. "You're lucky my sister likes me, i would have told everyone where this place is if she didn't" before doing her awkward crawl/run up the ramp and out the door and into the streets, disappearing amongst the crowd.

Jaina rushes up to the first KG she finds, just around the corner from the underground HQ and gestures to her restraints. "Hey, help a colleague out will ya? Damn rebels got the jump on me!"

The KG laughs at Jaina cruelly, but aims their blaster rifle at the chained shackles around her ankles and fires, breaking the chain with a flash as the shot shatters the chain links. "Hold your hands out, and don't worry, i WILL be telling Commander Erol about this" he laughs again, before shooting the restraints around her wrists, finally releasing the last of the restraints, even as Jaina growls at the KG's smug attitude.

"Thanks, keep an eye out, Rebel movement around here is stronger than we thought" Jaina gives the KG a quick salute before running off towards the palace, pushing any civilian or KG that gets in her way, out of her way. Before an explosion racks the city, making Jaina look around, and see smoke and a fireball rising from the direction of the armoury. "What the, in the name of Mar, what have they done?! I, I need to get to the palace…" Jaina's rush to the palace is doubled, stealing a jet bike and zooming off through the richer parts of the city and up to the palace doors, jumping off and going through the doors. With a quick glance around, she is always confused as to why no one is ever at the computers in the entranceway of the palace, before walking over to the security door, which opens on her approach to reveal an elevator.

Once Jaina steps onto the elevator, and impatiently paces around the edge of the square grate until it reaches the top, the door opens to the red corridor decorated with potted plants and an inactive turret at the end. Jaina doesn't take the time to look around as she sprints through the halls to the throne room, slowing to a calm and collected walk as the large throne room doors slide open revealing Baron Praxis on his throne, talking with Erol about, something or other which stops as Jaina walks in, walking past the pillars on either side of the room on her approach to the pair, her eyes purposefully avoiding looking at the baron's half metal face.

"My Baron, Commander Erol, I come with troubling news. The rebels of the Underground seem to have spies among us, they know about the movement of eco, what we use, what we don't. And worse, they have grown bold enough to take KG off the street to try and pump them for information" Jaina bows respectfully and steps backwards a couple steps, waiting for the response and any orders that may come her way.

"This, is troubling news indeed, Jaina. Erol, I want you to look into this, keep track of everyone who has knowledge of important information, leave no one untraced. We can't risk them finding any weakness in our infrastructure" Praxis orders, getting a nod from Erol in response.

"Yes, of course, I shall get this spy stamped out" Erol leaves quickly, giving Jaina a smug smirk and a wink as he passes her, much to her disgust. He strides out of the room, turning out of sight before the doors finish sliding shut.

Once they are alone, Jaina sighs and relaxes, looking up to Praxis and giving a small smile. "I do have some more information, My Baron. The Underground have gained the aid of your pet weapon but don't seem to know about your weapon projects." Jaina gives another small bow.

"Thank you, Jaina. You have proven very useful to me. I see i have underestimated how useful information from just wandering the streets can prove, your plan of gaining rank in secrecy has proven wise, though i wish you would allow your rank to be shown, if only so you can receive the respect that you deserve" Praxis says softly, stepping down from his throne and up to Jaina, cupping her face in his right hand "So i am ordering you to accept the public promotion to your rank, Commander of Special Operations"

"But" Jaina goes to argue, then sighs, nodding and placing her hand on Praxis's "okay, i will accept the public promotion, but it does mean i will no longer be able to hear information that doesn't normally spread up the ranks." She informs calmly, looking him in the eye "but with on of the limiters destroyed, maybe that's for the better"

"What happened?" Praxis demands, gesturing to the shackles, damaged armour and the missing runed bracelet from her left arm.

"Your pet happened, it seems dark eco and the limiters do not go well together…" Jaina rubs her wrist below the shackles "what happens if the other limitters get damaged, Father?"


End file.
